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Colonisation
Colonies are territories claimed by settlers from another land. They can act in many capacities, to expand empires, to mine natural resources or even as a place to hold prisoners. The first attempt at colonising a planet took place in the late 21st Century when the United States of America attempted to form a prison colony on the surface of Mars. This failed however and it was not until 2121 that the first successful human colony was established in 2121 on the planet of Gliese 581g . Terraforming The process of terraforming was highly controversial and changed dramatically over the years. The failed colony on Mars showed that housing all citizens inside one complex would not be suffiecent for the sheer number of people that later expeditions hoped to carry. As such, 22nd and early 23rd Century colonisation was usually completely automated for the first year. During the first six months orbital drones would collect information on the planet and then feed it back to the scientists in orbit who would find the best place for the colony to land. The colony ship, which would carry the majority of colonists in cryo-sleep while the planet is scouted, would then drop off Explorer-Bots and Builder-Bots, simple automatons that would spend the next six months getting closer up readings on the surrounding area and then creating an environment suitable for humans to live on once they wake. Once the initial pre-programmed utilitarian structures were in the place the Builder-Bots would create a protective dome over the chosen site. This would allow the humans to have a sustainable, Earth-like atmosphere to live in while the terraforming process took place, rather than having to wait many years for the planet to be completely changed to suit their needs. The actual act of terraforming was unique to every world as it depended completely upon the different variables each planet provided. In certain dry worlds it was necessary for what little ice sat upon the polar caps to be melted in order to provide some kind of renewable water resource for the planet while in planets with thin atmospheres, dangerous levels of radiation could affect colonists not suitably protected so large amounts of carbon dioxide would be pumped into the atmosphere to help create some kind of shield from the local star. The list of problems and solutions for early colonistation was endless and so the cost was also large. Towards the end of the 23rd Century, with the Colonial Revolutionary Wars still on-going, it was felt that while the colonisation of new planets was necessary for future success, that it was simply too expensive for terraforming to be done to an Earth-like standard. As such the Earth Commonwealth took a more direct approach on many planets and were happy for them simply to have a breathable atmosphere, even if the ground was good for little more but sand. This created a large number of 'Dustbowl Worlds' which were populated only by the corporations needed to mine and run them and the people too poor to leave. Politics The first colonisation was mainly funded by 22nd Century super powers India and China . Both agreed that the colony of one million people would need a suitable non-political leader to keep order and that democratic elections would cause rifts within a community that needs to be unified to survive. As such Earth appointed governors act as dictators over the colony until it was felt that it was strong enough to survive. In some cases out-going governors did not wish to give up their power and enacted laws Given the difficult nature of living on a newly colonised world and the increased threat crime poses, all crime was handled much more harshly than it would be on Earth. With no real prison system, many crimes came with death sentences as criminals were seen to be undermining the effort to succeed and were therefore treacherous. This was not something people liked but it something most felt to be necessary.